Pair charged in Lakeside mugging

Two men have been charged with armed robbery for the mugging of a 51-year-old man in the parking lot of Lakeside Mall last week, Sterling Heights police announced Friday.

Kory Jevon McKenzie and Demonte Elijah Price, both 20 years old and from Roseville, were arrested after investigators were able to link a portion of the license plate number on the culpritsí getaway vehicle to a residence in Roseville, Detective Lt. Luke Riley said.

The victim, of Shelby Township, stopped at the TJ Maxx store on Hall Road in Shelby Township at approximately 10:15 a.m. March 14 and then walked across the road to Lakeside. While he was in the parking lot of the mall near the Sears store along Schoenherr Road, two men in a silver Chevrolet Trailblazer followed him. A passenger exited the SUV, confronted the victim and punched him in the face, police said.

When the victim fought back, the driver got out of the vehicle and struck the Shelby Township man in the head with an object, knocking the victim to the ground, police said. The robbers took the manís wallet and a briefcase that contained nothing of significant monetary value, police said.

The injured man was transported to a hospital for treatment of a jaw injury and a cut to his head.

Witnesses provided police with the last four digits of the license plate on the SUV. With assistant from Roseville police, Sterling Heights detectives located and arrested the suspects at a Roseville home on Greenhaven Street without a struggle, approximately six hours after the incident, Riley said.

Police confiscated from the SUV a hard object they believe may have been used to hit the victim on the head causing the laceration. Officials declined to specify the object.

McKenzie and Pride remained held in the Macomb County Jail on Friday in lieu of $200,000 cash bond set by 41A District Magistrate Michael Piatek. A preliminary hearing to determine whether they should stand trial is scheduled for March 31.

Police are investigating whether both suspects are responsible for other muggings, Riley said.